Arab News Japan

New Japanese Prime Minister SUGA Yoshihide’s government was backed by nearly eighty-percent of respondents in an Arab News Japan Twitter poll conducted during the early days of his administration.

#POLL: Who do you think is the best candidate fit to be Japan’s next Prime Minister and LDP leader?

世論調査：あなたは次の首相と自民党総裁に最もふさわしい候補者は誰だと思いますか？

— Arab News Japan (@ArabNewsjp) September 7, 2020

The Arab News Japan poll found that 75.7% of the public supported Suga’s cabinet.

Of the 235 people who took part in the poll, just 14% said they thought Kishida Fumio was the best candidate fit to be Japan’s next Prime Minister and LDP leader, while 10.2% percent showed support for Ishiba Shigeru.

Suga became Japan’s first new prime minister in nearly eight years on Wednesday, pledging to contain COVID-19 and push reforms after retaining about half of predecessor Shinzo Abe’s cabinet.

There has been speculation that Suga could take advantage of strong support, indicated by media polls even before officially taking office, to call a snap election soon to solidify his grip on power.

On Wednesday, however, Suga said that what Japanese most wanted was to contain the coronavirus outbreak and revive the battered economy.

“This is the first thing I want to work on with my new cabinet,” he told reporters, according to Reuters.